Monica Dac 2

Puffin · 29th March 2006, 08:00 AM

I am thinking of getting one of these from DIY paradise. Can anyone tell me if they sound any good and if there are any drawbacks, e.g reliability or support for problems etc

jean-paul · 29th March 2006, 09:33 PM

Buy one and report it back to us

Somebody has to be the first one otherwise noone will ever know.

Seriously, there are some positive comments here about the Monica. I think TDA1545 DACs are less popular than those with TDA1543 because of the "sheep following sheep" phenomenon.

This will change as supplies of TDA1543 will dry up.

nullspace · 29th March 2006, 09:51 PM

I have one of Yeo's Monica 2's laying around. It does sound quite good to me, but honestly I don't have a lot to compare it to. It is inexpensive, though, so why not give it a try?

I will add that Yeo is great to work with; the DAC was my second project and I butchered soldering the tda1545 badly, and he helped me get it working.

The one negative I will point out is the lack of a gain stage; i.e., voltage out is anemic. With my voltmeter I measured anywhere between .1 and .3v depending on which CD I was listening to -- you're going to need some serious gain somewhere else to make up for this.

Hope that helps.

Regards,
John

vt4c · 30th March 2006, 12:33 AM

John,

Yeo has been listening and he has come out with a solution....

http://diyparadise.com/mar06/gg.html

Quote:

Originally posted by nullspace
The one negative I will point out is the lack of a gain stage; i.e., voltage out is anemic. With my voltmeter I measured anywhere between .1 and .3v depending on which CD I was listening to -- you're going to need some serious gain somewhere else to make up for this.

nullspace · 30th March 2006, 02:14 AM

Excellent. Thanks for the link, and this will definitely make it onto my list of to-do's. However, that big-*** 100uf electrolytic smack-dab in the signal path does give me the willies. I can't help but think I'm just going to be listening to Mr. Black Gates.

Regards,
John

Jean-Charles · 4th May 2006, 05:17 AM

For those whom it may help, I own a monica 2 dac and I have been playing around with it for a while.
It is baterie operated at this time but I plan to build or buy an ac adaptor for it, soon.
How does it sound?
Very good. I compared to the Peter Daniel TDA1543 design and I find monica better. I have a YBA3 dac, largely modified into a YBA1 and I use it as a drive only now, because I preffer monica again. I also took it at my friend's place and we compared monica againts the Sonic Frontier 3.
The sound is very similar to the amazement of my friend who paid a lot of $$$$ for his gear.
Honestly, for the price you can't beat it. I could bring it to other places, one friend has an original YBA1 and the other a Goldmund dac.
May be I will do it one day, but I know very well the differences between my dac and theirs. It is not worthed all the money. Imagine now if you think of $125.

Jean-Charles

jleaman · 4th May 2006, 05:43 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Jean-Charles
For those whom it may help, I own a monica 2 dac and I have been playing around with it for a while.
It is baterie operated at this time but I plan to build or buy an ac adaptor for it, soon.
How does it sound?
Very good. I compared to the Peter Daniel TDA1543 design and I find monica better. I have a YBA3 dac, largely modified into a YBA1 and I use it as a drive only now, because I preffer monica again. I also took it at my friend's place and we compared monica againts the Sonic Frontier 3.
The sound is very similar to the amazement of my friend who paid a lot of $$$$ for his gear.
Honestly, for the price you can't beat it. I could bring it to other places, one friend has an original YBA1 and the other a Goldmund dac.
May be I will do it one day, but I know very well the differences between my dac and theirs. It is not worthed all the money. Imagine now if you think of $125.

Jean-Charles

Got some pictures or schematics ?

planet10 · 4th May 2006, 08:33 AM

http://diyparadise.com/dackit/1545bdackit.html

KT · 4th May 2006, 01:09 PM

I have the Monica II, the Scott Nixon DacKit, and the Scott Nixon TubeDac+.

All sound good, but different. If I had to choose just one, I would probably go for the Monica II for the edge in sound quality. I'd be satisfied with any of them, though.

Scott Nixon is now offering his dacs with USB IS2 digital inputs, which may have some advantages over SPDIF.

I think the DacKit and the Monica II are both unbelievable values. The TubeDac+ probably less of a value, though still a great performer for the price.

If you have a suitable linestage or pre after the dac, I heartily recommend any of these dacs. The Monica II is more insightful than the other two, IMO, and would be my top choice if I had to pick just one.

Best,
KT

29th March 2006, 08:00 AM	#1
Puffin diyAudio Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: U.K	Monica Dac 2 I am thinking of getting one of these from DIY paradise. Can anyone tell me if they sound any good and if there are any drawbacks, e.g reliability or support for problems etc

29th March 2006, 09:33 PM	#2
jean-paul diyAudio Moderator Emeritus Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: The Netherlands	Buy one and report it back to us Somebody has to be the first one otherwise noone will ever know. Seriously, there are some positive comments here about the Monica. I think TDA1545 DACs are less popular than those with TDA1543 because of the "sheep following sheep" phenomenon. This will change as supplies of TDA1543 will dry up. __________________ It's only audio

4th May 2006, 05:17 AM	#6
Jean-Charles diyAudio Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Ste-Agathe des Monts	Monica 2 For those whom it may help, I own a monica 2 dac and I have been playing around with it for a while. It is baterie operated at this time but I plan to build or buy an ac adaptor for it, soon. How does it sound? Very good. I compared to the Peter Daniel TDA1543 design and I find monica better. I have a YBA3 dac, largely modified into a YBA1 and I use it as a drive only now, because I preffer monica again. I also took it at my friend's place and we compared monica againts the Sonic Frontier 3. The sound is very similar to the amazement of my friend who paid a lot of $$$$ for his gear. Honestly, for the price you can't beat it. I could bring it to other places, one friend has an original YBA1 and the other a Goldmund dac. May be I will do it one day, but I know very well the differences between my dac and theirs. It is not worthed all the money. Imagine now if you think of $125. Jean-Charles

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29th March 2006, 09:51 PM	#3
nullspace diyAudio Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Phila., PA	I have one of Yeo's Monica 2's laying around. It does sound quite good to me, but honestly I don't have a lot to compare it to. It is inexpensive, though, so why not give it a try? I will add that Yeo is great to work with; the DAC was my second project and I butchered soldering the tda1545 badly, and he helped me get it working. The one negative I will point out is the lack of a gain stage; i.e., voltage out is anemic. With my voltmeter I measured anywhere between .1 and .3v depending on which CD I was listening to -- you're going to need some serious gain somewhere else to make up for this. Hope that helps. Regards, John

30th March 2006, 02:14 AM	#5
nullspace diyAudio Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Phila., PA	Excellent. Thanks for the link, and this will definitely make it onto my list of to-do's. However, that big-*** 100uf electrolytic smack-dab in the signal path does give me the willies. I can't help but think I'm just going to be listening to Mr. Black Gates. Regards, John

4th May 2006, 08:33 AM	#8
planet10 frugal-phile(tm) diyAudio Moderator Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Victoria, BC, NA, Sol III Blog Entries: 4	http://diyparadise.com/dackit/1545bdackit.html

4th May 2006, 01:09 PM	#9
KT diyAudio Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: USA	I have the Monica II, the Scott Nixon DacKit, and the Scott Nixon TubeDac+. All sound good, but different. If I had to choose just one, I would probably go for the Monica II for the edge in sound quality. I'd be satisfied with any of them, though. Scott Nixon is now offering his dacs with USB IS2 digital inputs, which may have some advantages over SPDIF. I think the DacKit and the Monica II are both unbelievable values. The TubeDac+ probably less of a value, though still a great performer for the price. If you have a suitable linestage or pre after the dac, I heartily recommend any of these dacs. The Monica II is more insightful than the other two, IMO, and would be my top choice if I had to pick just one. Best, KT

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